>>i never understood how people get killed by zombies..<<

Much to the distress of my parents, I had a strong infatuation with "monster movies" somewhere between the ages of 9 and 13- now too many decades ago.

The entire time was not spent in mindless fascination, though. I can, just as if it were ever called for, discourse in pseudo-learned fashion on possible relationships between our reaction to almost-human monsters (always the most popular) and evolutionary memories of competition with Neanderthals and the like, or how monsters change over time to reflect real contemporary fears that we don't want to face directly.

The real upshot of my contemplations over those years though, was the insight that any monster less intelligent than we are is essentially boring- and that, of course, applies strongly to zombies. Any threat in that category would probably kill a few unsuspecting folks taken by surprise, but... we're essentially at the top of the food chain because we're capable of being pretty nasty, as required, to stay there... and any *stupid* threat is pretty easily disposed of, once we grasp it's nature.

And that, IMHO, is a large part of the secret of our continuing cultural fascination with vampires. In the persistent mythos of vampires we face very explicitly being put down a notch in the food chain by something with the potential for more intelligence- or at least equal intelligence and vastly more experience- than we possess. That was evident at the very beginning, in Bram Stoker's original book, which turns into sort of a vast chess game between Van Helsing and the 400 year-old Count, using human beings as pieces. Fundamentally different than any other genre I can think of.

I have a question that was one of those probably originating back in the days of Henry Clay, who more or less set up the American "language". This one is primarily for British English speakers (Aussies, New Zealanders, and Canadians, etc., can speak up if they know the answer). Why are collective nouns singular (usually) in American English and plural in British English? It just seems to make more sense to me if a noun one can pluralize - even if it IS collective - is considered to be singular. Example: Ditchfield said, "the government ARE", rather than "the government IS". Why, when the word "government" is singular and has a perfectly valid plural (governments). How 'bout it? Anybody know? <img src="images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Tahirih

As far as I know, GCSE's have been around for about 15 years or more.... of course, as Ditchfield said, they're talking about changing them to another type of qualification now.

Ditchfield: Did you do your GCSE's in Wales? Thats how most people I know got 11 (me included)..... just curious.

being a big fan of some types of horror movies i had to see this movie, but with some hesitation.

the original version by romero is genius, not just for STILL being scarier then the current version but also for the social message it carried in the original movie.

its also fun to sit there with someone whos into survival watching the film nit-picking all the things they SHOULD be doing.

the new movie disappointed me on many levels the begining and ending credits were "mtv style" buzz clips with lots of static that gave me a headache.
if you saw 28 days later you basically seen the same movie with running vicious zombies.

the story was pretty thin and the special effects almost all computer done now. ( i miss the make up and prosthetic zombie make up).

to me it lacked the soul that the original movie had, where you cared about the characters.
with these guys you dont care if they live or die it all seemed so overly negative and downbeat.

there were a few major problems in the film i wont go into because of spoilers, but suffice it to say they almost ruin the film for me.

if you want dawn of the dead buy the original its better.

and on a survival note, whoever said it was right, move everything to the 2nd floor of a house and tear up the stairs. problem solved heh.

personally i would never have left the mall, id make sure to fortify the outer area and then work on extending my perimiter as much as we can even if it means moving slowly.

on another note...IF the zombie scenario was real, dont you think that the combination of hot weather and naturally rotting in general would make them harmless in no time?

end of rant...

heres a few of my favorite "teotwawki" type films.
not always good films but i liked them.
they fall into a few catagories, the begining of the end ,and after the end of the world.

in no order:

red dawn
28 days later
dawn of the dead / day of the dead
the stand (if you read it get the uncut version)
mad max / road warrior
the omega man
soylent green (this seems the most likey id say)
the quiet earth
planet of the apes
def con 4
hitchhikers guide to the galaxy (the world WAS destroyed after all).


for those of us who liked omega man / last man on earth and those type of films, you have to read the book " i am legend" by richard matheson.
its the book omega man was based on but its much better.

I've just seen Shaun of the Dead, described as the first Rom Zom Com! Its an incredibly funny spoof Zombie film, written by the guys that did Spaced (a British comedy show). Its a British independent film, so I don't know if its made it across the pond (or anywhere else) yet.

If it comes to a cinema near you, I recommend it. <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

No mention yet of what is surely the best ever "survival" movie (OK, not outdoors) using whatever may be at hand - the HOME ALONE series with that modern day "Milky Bar Kid" MaCulkin....

OK., I'll have a go... "The government are..." for example, "in agreement about" means one government in agreement. ie a number of peeples are members of that government agreeing on something (a rare occurence). Whereas goverment with a 'S' on the end means more than one government.
That's from somebody with an 'O' Level !!!, so it could well be out of date!!

The following is a quote from"Fowlers Modern English Usage". I would assume anything that differs from the quotation is simply bad English. Whilst there maybe spelling differences between the US and British, I would imagine the grammer stays the same. (I stand to be corrected..)



If I understand it correctly it is the way you phrase the sentence:
" The goverment (singular) is incompetent..."
or
The governments (plural) are incompetent.."

I think thats what Whisky69 said! <img src="images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />